When a controversial bill is being debated in the Illinois General Assembly, most lawmakers agree on what the bill says. The argument is usually over whether it’s a good bill for them to pass. But as one bill that narrowly passed the House moves into the Senate, there’s a chasm between supporters and opponents over what it says and means.

Mayors and village presidents across Illinois charge that the bill, which the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois union is trying to get passed, will snatch decision-making over fire department staffing levels from local governments and place them with arbitrators. The bill, they say, will increase city and village labor costs and lead to higher property taxes.

The bill, HB 5485, is nicknamed the “manning bill.” Mayors say it would make firefighter and paramedic staffing a mandatory topic of collective bargaining between cities and fire union locals, instead of a permitted issue, as they say it is now. The Illinois Municipal League, the lobby for cities and villages, will press for the bill’s defeat when members go to the state Capitol this week.

“The question is, do we want arbitrators to tell cities what their manning requirements should be for fire trucks? It takes away the role of communities to make intelligent decisions,” said municipal league President Darryl Lindberg, the mayor of Loves Park.

“The firefighters carry a big hammer, and they have put it into effect to pass this bill,” Lindberg said. “On just one day they gave $200,000 to various senators and House members,” he said. “It’s pay to play politics.”

Fire Fighters Association President Pat Devaney would not confirm Lindberg’s number without checking records, but he strongly defended the union’s participation in the political process.

“We contribute to candidates who we believe share our values and concerns. If there’s an implication there’s something improper with that, I would strongly disagree,” Devaney said.

In the House, Reps. Brian Stewart, R-Freeport, Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, and Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, voted against the bill. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, supported the measure, which passed by three votes.

Cabello, a Rockford police officer, said the bill just clarifies existing law “so everybody understands it. Manning is already in the collective bargaining law,” Cabello said.

The law in question was passed in 1985 and took effect in 1986. It prohibited police officers and firefighters from striking and established the current system of collective bargaining. When management and labor can’t agree on a contract issue, arbitrators make binding decisions.

Page 2 of 2 - “In the law, manning is a management right in the case of police, but not for firefighters. Since 1986 we’ve been operating under the premise that manning is a collective bargaining issue,” in fire negotiations, Devaney said.

“Recently, an employer said it wanted manning to not be subject to bargaining. We went to court and won.”

Devaney said the fire union has won every time it contested a municipality over this issue, “but it’s costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so.” Devaney said the bill would not allow arbitrators to set manning and salary issues. The issue only applies if it is brought to the table during contract negotiations, he said.

The municipal league strongly disagrees and claims the union is misinterpreting the 1986 law. The law covers only the number of firefighters and/or paramedics on a fire truck or ambulance, “and is a wholly separate issue from the number of fighters that must staff a shift,” the league says.

Rockford won an arbitrator’s decision last year to reduce manning on fire trucks from four to three.

Devaney cites Rockford as proof that arbitration is fair and adds, “There’s not a single example of an arbitrator ordering increased department staffing levels.”

The bill now advances to the state Senate.

Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, is against the bill, saying the manning issue “should be up to local communities. It’s an unfunded mandate.” Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, leans toward supporting the bill.

For his part, Mayor Lindberg says he’s just glad Loves Park has a volunteer fire department that doesn’t make medical calls.